The Grapes of Ralph: Wine According to Ralph Steadman [Hardcover]

Ralph Steadman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 24, 1996

Artist and raconteur Steadman takes us on a witty, irreverent tour through the strange world of wine and winemaking-from France, Italy, Germany, and Portugal to Bulgaria, Australia, and California. “The first exciting wine book in a long time” (Frank Prial, New York Times). Illustrated throughout in full color.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Award-winning illustrator Steadman high-jumps onto the current bandwagon of books about wine. Animating Steadman's ebullient, bristling, irreverent prose are kinetic, gracefully sensuous, and utterly inimitable images that pulsate with enthusiasm for his chosen subject. This visual feast is appropriate accompaniment to Steadman's text, which keenly enables the reader to vicariously experience wineries from Bordeaux to Oporto and on to Napa Valley (imbibing at least in spirit along with the author). Anyone with a soupcon of joie de vivre will be besotted with Steadman's first-class style as raconteur, wine expert, and travel writer. Fine printing and production increase the book's appeal. Alice Joyce

From Kirkus Reviews

For the oenophile with a sense of humor: In The Grapes Of Ralph ($35.00; Oct. 1996; 224 pages; ISBN 0-15-100245-2) the wicked cartoonist and illustrator offers a tour of the wine countries of the world and their leading denizens. Accompanying the narrative is Steadman's warped, witty art: Top-hatted Frenchmen inserting their sniffers into wineglasses; German grapes exploding in a heatwave--a perfect subject for Steadman's blotchy inkblot style; and in Australia, a portrait of of a woman known as Long Flat Red, who dyed her wardrobe in her husband's vintage of 1894. Effervescent and not too dry. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; First U.S. Edition edition (October 24, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151002452
• ISBN-13: 978-0151002450
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #362,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ralph, wine & pen, December 2, 2001

By 

"hr2go" (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Grapes of Ralph: Wine According to Ralph Steadman (Hardcover)

Ralph Steadman is a wonderful artistic talent. In this book he combines his love of wine, humor, and his comedic illustrations. If you are a true wine lover (i.e. someone who just doesn't take the whole wine tasting thing too seriously, but knows what she or he likes) you will thoroughly enjoy this book. It is also a wonderful gift for wine-lovin' friends.

Enjoy!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming travel journal about wine, March 12, 2009

By 

Parka (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Grapes of Ralph: Wine According to Ralph Steadman (Hardcover)

Length:: 0:27 Mins

This is essentially a travel journal, and it's a very good one.

We join Ralph Steadman on his journey around the world to different countries, looking for wine. He walks on the dirt track leading to vineyards, watches grape being crushed and savors them in a glass. The writeup is excellent and detailed, looking into the life of people in the business of making wine.

The wonderful illustrations are a bonus, and complementary. It makes the reading so much more enjoyable.

Highly recommended to people who likes reading travel journals or loves wine.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trampling Out the Vintage, April 23, 2007

By 

Lynn Hoffman, author:The Short Course in Beer (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Grapes of Ralph: Wine According to Ralph Steadman (Hardcover)

Ralph Steadman is a very wicked person. Has no respect
for nothing, this guy. Anybody who could do drawings
for Hunter Thompson couldn't possibly get serious
enough to do justice to wine, could he?

The Grapes of Ralph is a semi-serious, very funny
look at the world of wine by a guy with a truly enviable
talent for illustration. His drawings range from wistful
to wildly exaggerated. The text, which is sometimes as
funny as the drawings contains a good bit of information
along with the humor. I bought two copies, one for
the bookshelf and one to cut up and frame in the
winecellar.

--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and
the novel bang BANG. ISBN 9781601640005